It feels like months ago now, but it was only last week when Vancouver Canucks GM Jim Benning said the NHL has become a speed and skill league.

The Canucks followed it up by focusing on size, grit and toughness.

And they handed out big money and long-term deals to do it.

It will either insulate and protect their best young players and give them more opportunity to play. Or it’s going to block their progress and slow down the rebuild.

It all depends on who you ask.

Vancouver’s first day of the 2018 free-agency period will be one that is argued about in the Lower Mainland for months, if not years.

This is the dawn of the Grit Wars in Vancouver.

Vancouver Canucks’ GM Jim Benning said he was thrilled to select defenceman Quintin Hughes with the seventh overall pick and hopes to land a few more gems on Saturday at the NHL Entry Draft in Dallas.Bruce Bennett /
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On a day that was filled with bargains for other teams, the Canucks needed four-year deals to land Jay Beagle and Antoine Roussel for a combined $6 million per year (all figures in U.S. dollars). Add in Tim Schaller and the Canucks committed $7.9 million to three players who aren’t going to rip up the scoresheet.

To put that in perspective, Michael Grabner, who scored 27 goals last year and was traded for a nice load at the deadline, got a three-year deal averaging $3.35 million from Arizona.

They wanted “leadership” and “mentoring” and “character.” They believe they got it.

“We want to give our young players a chance to play in skilled positions on the team and in offensive situations, so we were looking to round out our group,” Benning said.

On one side, some will say it’s no big deal, the term and money. The Canucks had cap space to burn. Get your marshmallows out, there’s a bonfire in Yaletown.

The Canucks’ biggest media supporters were saying all week Vancouver wasn’t in a position to hand out term. But of the first 50 contracts signed Sunday, only eight were for four years or more. And two of those eight ended up on the Canucks.

Part of that is the reality of being a team in a down cycle. Players aren’t lining up to be on bad teams, and right now most expect the Canucks to miss the playoffs yet again.

It means the Canucks have to offer term to attract free agents.

It seems the local NHL team is the only thing that gets taxed more in Vancouver than the gas.

Vancouver was also the only team chasing both Roussel and Beagle.

The good news? The Canucks love their prospects.

It’s why they had little interest in players with offensive upside, including big names like Stastny and Grabner and others like Tobias Rieder, Anthony Duclair and 25-year-old right-side defenceman Dylan DeMelo.

“We’re going to have to have some of these younger guys step up,” said Benning when asked if he was concerned about where the goals were going to come from.

“We’ve talked about this a lot. We feel strongly about these young players we have coming in.

“Pettersson we feel can come in and compete at the NHL level and be a scorer for us, and Adam Gaudette can score.”

Hopefully Pettersson can have a rookie season not unlike Brock Boeser’s, because the Canucks have been the lowest-scoring team in the league for the past three years and they just lost the Sedins and Thomas Vanek.

Those three combined for 146 points last year and were huge parts of the Canucks power play, which was the best part of the team.

“The Horvats and the Sven Baertschis, those types of players will have to keep getting better and pick up the toughness for us,” Benning said.

Some have suggested that adding three defensive forwards — Beagle, Roussel and Tim Schaller — opens the door to a Brandon Sutter trade. At least four teams have called about Sutter’s availability since the end of the season.

But the Canucks’ position is that he’s more valuable than ever. Remember two years ago, Benning thought Sutter could have scored “20 to 25 goals” if he didn’t have a wrist injury.

“Maybe (Travis Green) can play (Sutter) up and down the lineup with better offensive players,” Benning said. “(Green) has options there.”

Was freeing up Sutter for more offensive opportunities part of the reason the Canucks chased Beagle like he was a rock star?

“Yeah, if you look at the numbers, the analytics, (Sutter) almost started every time in the defensive zone,” Benning said. “So adding Jay to our team will take some of the pressure off him, because Jay can do that too.

“Maybe Sutter gets more offensive-zone starts.

“It will be up to Travis as to how he wants to deploy his guys, but that gives him options.”

Benning said he really wants his team spending more time in the offensive zone. But is Vancouver fast enough in today’s league?

“That’s something we talk about all the time, but Roussel gives us the speed, he’s fast,” Benning said. “Beagle is a good skater for a guy his size, and got up and down the ice in the Stanley Cup Final.”

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